Paul Colt's Blog, page 20
November 13, 2021
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin got his start playing villains, playing tough-guy soldiers in war films. He knew the part having served as a combat decorated Marine in the Pacific Theater in WWII. His most memorable war film, The Dirty Dozen, came later in his career with a star-studded cast including Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown and Donald Sutherland.
He put his western villain stamp on the title role in John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, opposite John Wayne and Jimmy Stuart. Other western feature films include The Comancheros, again with John Wayne, Seminole, Gun Fury and The Stranger Wore a Gun with Randolph Scott. Though not known for his singing he also appeared in the western musical Paint Your Wagon.
In another memorable Marvin western, The Professionals, he played the leader of a ‘Magnificent Seven – ish’ band of guns for hire. The film features another all-star cast including Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and, be still my heart, Claudia Cardinale. Set against the backdrop of Mexican revolution a wealthy Rancher hires Marvin’s band to rescue his kidnapped wife. Small wonder he wanted her back.
The pinnacle of Lee Marvin’s acting career success came in his roles in the 1965 comedic western, Cat Ballou. Marvin played besotted, washed-up gunfighter, Kid Shelleen and cutthroat killer of the metal nose, Tim Strawn. Marvin won Oscar and Golden Globe Best Actor awards for his performance. In one of the best sight gags in western film, Marvin’s drunken Shelleen character is seen sitting on a horse leaning against the side of a building as though both are passed out, the horse’s front legs amazingly crossed. Marvin credited the horse for his Oscar.
Lee Marvin passed away August 29, 1987 at the age of 63. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Next Week: Richard Widmark
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He put his western villain stamp on the title role in John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, opposite John Wayne and Jimmy Stuart. Other western feature films include The Comancheros, again with John Wayne, Seminole, Gun Fury and The Stranger Wore a Gun with Randolph Scott. Though not known for his singing he also appeared in the western musical Paint Your Wagon.
In another memorable Marvin western, The Professionals, he played the leader of a ‘Magnificent Seven – ish’ band of guns for hire. The film features another all-star cast including Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and, be still my heart, Claudia Cardinale. Set against the backdrop of Mexican revolution a wealthy Rancher hires Marvin’s band to rescue his kidnapped wife. Small wonder he wanted her back.
The pinnacle of Lee Marvin’s acting career success came in his roles in the 1965 comedic western, Cat Ballou. Marvin played besotted, washed-up gunfighter, Kid Shelleen and cutthroat killer of the metal nose, Tim Strawn. Marvin won Oscar and Golden Globe Best Actor awards for his performance. In one of the best sight gags in western film, Marvin’s drunken Shelleen character is seen sitting on a horse leaning against the side of a building as though both are passed out, the horse’s front legs amazingly crossed. Marvin credited the horse for his Oscar.
Lee Marvin passed away August 29, 1987 at the age of 63. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Next Week: Richard Widmark
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Paul
November 6, 2021
Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef’s acting career spanned thirty-eight years encompassing ninety movies and one hundred nine television shows, mostly played as a villain. If fact he broke into film in the role of a villain. Director Stanley Kramer offered Van Cleef the role of Deputy Harvey Pell in High Noon on condition he have his distinctive nose fixed. Van Cleef declined preferring instead the non-speaking role of gunman Jack Colby. With that decision Van Cleef was born to the bad, with his angular features, penetrating gaze and oh yes, that nose.
Remember the post series we did on western tv series? Lee Van Cleef owned a villain on a passel of them. Guest star villains dominated his career for much of the fifties and sixties in those hey-day western years. Lee appeared in episodes of The Adventures of Kit Carson, Range Rider, Sky King, Annie Oakley, The Rifleman, Tombstone Territory, Riverboat, Wanted Dead or Alive, Maverick, Have Gun Will Travel, Colt .45, Laramie, Bonanza and of course Gunsmoke. Besides being bad, Van Cleef got very good at another bad role. Most of his characters died.
He returned to the big screen as a gang member to Lee Marvin’s title role in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Van Cleef’s big screen big break came in 1965 when Sergio Leone cast him opposite Clint Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More. That led to a lead role as Angel Eyes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. After that Van Cleef was on his way to Spaghetti-Western stardom, likely owed in part to Eastwood’s decision to take his career in a different direction to avoid being type cast. Lee starred in The Big Gundown, Death Rides a Horse, Day of Anger and The Grand Duel.
Lee Van Cleef died of a heart-attack December 16, 1989. He rests in Forest Lawn cemetery in Hollywood beneath the inscription “Best of the Bad.” How’s that for a nose job?
Next Week: Lee Marvin
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Paul
Remember the post series we did on western tv series? Lee Van Cleef owned a villain on a passel of them. Guest star villains dominated his career for much of the fifties and sixties in those hey-day western years. Lee appeared in episodes of The Adventures of Kit Carson, Range Rider, Sky King, Annie Oakley, The Rifleman, Tombstone Territory, Riverboat, Wanted Dead or Alive, Maverick, Have Gun Will Travel, Colt .45, Laramie, Bonanza and of course Gunsmoke. Besides being bad, Van Cleef got very good at another bad role. Most of his characters died.
He returned to the big screen as a gang member to Lee Marvin’s title role in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Van Cleef’s big screen big break came in 1965 when Sergio Leone cast him opposite Clint Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More. That led to a lead role as Angel Eyes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. After that Van Cleef was on his way to Spaghetti-Western stardom, likely owed in part to Eastwood’s decision to take his career in a different direction to avoid being type cast. Lee starred in The Big Gundown, Death Rides a Horse, Day of Anger and The Grand Duel.
Lee Van Cleef died of a heart-attack December 16, 1989. He rests in Forest Lawn cemetery in Hollywood beneath the inscription “Best of the Bad.” How’s that for a nose job?
Next Week: Lee Marvin
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Paul
October 30, 2021
Western Film Villians
Western Film Villains don’t get enough credit for the part they play in making a western film great. Think about it. Where would the Magnificent Seven be without Eli Wallach? Without Liberty Valance, the man who shot him would be left doing dishes in a frontier café. Turns out many of our favorite western actors had a hand in the bad guy part of one or more films. For some, it defined their career. You’ll recognize the faces without knowing their names. Others got their start as a bad guy only to earn top billing later in their careers. For many, a bad guy role was but one in a filmography rich in variety. Some names you’ll know without associating them with western film, let alone a western villain. We’ll look at them all as this series unfolds.
We’ll profile bad guy biographies and filmographies to get interesting slants on the actors and their western villain roles. Those roles lead us to revisit classic films we’ve featured in other post series with a very specific focus this time. Other roles take us to some dusty corners of less-than-classic western filmography. Actually, there is so much dust in those corners, it makes for another interesting post series down the road a piece. All in all, it looks like an opportunity to have some fun with guys who wore black hats, needed a shave, and rode brown horses.
Next Week: Lee Van Cleef
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Paul
We’ll profile bad guy biographies and filmographies to get interesting slants on the actors and their western villain roles. Those roles lead us to revisit classic films we’ve featured in other post series with a very specific focus this time. Other roles take us to some dusty corners of less-than-classic western filmography. Actually, there is so much dust in those corners, it makes for another interesting post series down the road a piece. All in all, it looks like an opportunity to have some fun with guys who wore black hats, needed a shave, and rode brown horses.
Next Week: Lee Van Cleef
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Ride easy,
Paul
October 23, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 14
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
Margot tries to explain her situation to Lafitte beginning with her decision to seek shelter in the cathedral . . .
“You didn’t believe we could win.”
“Did you? Perhaps you did.
Precious few of us left in the city thought so. The sisters and the women prayed all through the night. I listened. The lady spoke to me in words I hadn’t heard since I was a little girl. In her words, I saw myself as she saw me.”
“Spoke to you. A statue spoke to you.”
“Not a statue, Jean. The Lady inspired a statue to remind us of her. This much I’ve learned. The Lady herself spoke to me. I heard her words, listen and discern.”
“Discern what?”
“I don’t know. Mother Marie says I’ll know it when I hear it. I’m still listening. Still learning. This much I know, busy as she was with all the cares of battle, she found time to console a sinner. She found time to wish something more for me than the life I lived.”
“And what is that?”
“I do not know.”
“What of Chateau Le Belle?”
“What of it?”
“You own it.”
“I don’t need it anymore. You tell me what’s become of it.”
“Nichol runs it in your stead.”
“Then that is what’s become of it.”
“You’ve no more interest than that.”
“No more.”
“I am but a simple pirate. How am I to understand all this?”
“How am I? Perhaps if you listen.”
“Oh, no. Not me. That’s where all this started.”
“No, Jean. It all began with Mr. Madison’s ill-advised war.”
Next Week: Villains of Western Film
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Paul
Margot tries to explain her situation to Lafitte beginning with her decision to seek shelter in the cathedral . . .
“You didn’t believe we could win.”
“Did you? Perhaps you did.
Precious few of us left in the city thought so. The sisters and the women prayed all through the night. I listened. The lady spoke to me in words I hadn’t heard since I was a little girl. In her words, I saw myself as she saw me.”
“Spoke to you. A statue spoke to you.”
“Not a statue, Jean. The Lady inspired a statue to remind us of her. This much I’ve learned. The Lady herself spoke to me. I heard her words, listen and discern.”
“Discern what?”
“I don’t know. Mother Marie says I’ll know it when I hear it. I’m still listening. Still learning. This much I know, busy as she was with all the cares of battle, she found time to console a sinner. She found time to wish something more for me than the life I lived.”
“And what is that?”
“I do not know.”
“What of Chateau Le Belle?”
“What of it?”
“You own it.”
“I don’t need it anymore. You tell me what’s become of it.”
“Nichol runs it in your stead.”
“Then that is what’s become of it.”
“You’ve no more interest than that.”
“No more.”
“I am but a simple pirate. How am I to understand all this?”
“How am I? Perhaps if you listen.”
“Oh, no. Not me. That’s where all this started.”
“No, Jean. It all began with Mr. Madison’s ill-advised war.”
Next Week: Villains of Western Film
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Paul
October 16, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 13
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
A gentleman caller invites Margot to confront her past . . .
Jean Lafitte rose, hat in hand. He looked dashing and elegant as ever in the stark humble surroundings of a convent parlor. A bare room, its walls lined with straight back wooden chairs, a crucifix only to adorn one wall. Our Lady of Consolation restored to her proper pedestal.
“Margot, I heard you were here. Whatever does this mean? Are you ill?”
I smiled. “Jean, good of you to come. Please have a seat.” I took a chair across from him.
Whatever does this mean? His question hung between us.
“No, I’m not ill. I can’t say I know the meaning of this. I am learning.”
“But this is so . . . sudden. So extreme.”
“I suppose it seems so.”
“Have you become a nun?”
“No. Not yet. I don’t know the sisters would even have me should I think I hear the call.”
He shook his head as if to clear it. “Then why are you here?”
“I told you, I am learning. I can’t explain it more than that. I can only tell you what happened. When the guns began, I was frightened. The sisters took their statue of Our Lady here to the Cathedral to pray. The women of the city followed. I followed too thinking church the safest place when the British came.”
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Paul
A gentleman caller invites Margot to confront her past . . .
Jean Lafitte rose, hat in hand. He looked dashing and elegant as ever in the stark humble surroundings of a convent parlor. A bare room, its walls lined with straight back wooden chairs, a crucifix only to adorn one wall. Our Lady of Consolation restored to her proper pedestal.
“Margot, I heard you were here. Whatever does this mean? Are you ill?”
I smiled. “Jean, good of you to come. Please have a seat.” I took a chair across from him.
Whatever does this mean? His question hung between us.
“No, I’m not ill. I can’t say I know the meaning of this. I am learning.”
“But this is so . . . sudden. So extreme.”
“I suppose it seems so.”
“Have you become a nun?”
“No. Not yet. I don’t know the sisters would even have me should I think I hear the call.”
He shook his head as if to clear it. “Then why are you here?”
“I told you, I am learning. I can’t explain it more than that. I can only tell you what happened. When the guns began, I was frightened. The sisters took their statue of Our Lady here to the Cathedral to pray. The women of the city followed. I followed too thinking church the safest place when the British came.”
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Paul
October 9, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 12
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
The battle over, the war ended. The conflict for Margot’s soul drifted to the convent . . .
At the general’s request, we gathered again in the Cathedral to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I sat with the sisters dressed in widow’s weeds. I’d not been widowed in any sense, though I felt some kinship with those who had. Mother Marie said it a call to repentance.
General Jackson attended mass in full military dress, his figure having taken on a new estimation by the light of events. Following the service, he visited the convent to convey his thanks to Mother Marie and her sisters for their prayerful vigil. He acknowledged Lady Consolation aided his cause against a formidable force. I must say, by my witness, I believed it.
Days later, Mother Marie summoned me to her office.
“You have a gentleman caller,” she informed me.
“No one knows I am here.”
“This one does. Do you wish to see him, or should I send him away?”
I thought a moment. “Mother, I have made peace with change in my life, though I do not yet understand the full measure of it. I wonder, perhaps I never shall.”
Mother smiled with a nod. She understood.
“I believe I know who this man is. If I look back, I may learn something of why I have come here.”
“As you wish. He is in the parlor.” She gestured to the door.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
The battle over, the war ended. The conflict for Margot’s soul drifted to the convent . . .
At the general’s request, we gathered again in the Cathedral to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I sat with the sisters dressed in widow’s weeds. I’d not been widowed in any sense, though I felt some kinship with those who had. Mother Marie said it a call to repentance.
General Jackson attended mass in full military dress, his figure having taken on a new estimation by the light of events. Following the service, he visited the convent to convey his thanks to Mother Marie and her sisters for their prayerful vigil. He acknowledged Lady Consolation aided his cause against a formidable force. I must say, by my witness, I believed it.
Days later, Mother Marie summoned me to her office.
“You have a gentleman caller,” she informed me.
“No one knows I am here.”
“This one does. Do you wish to see him, or should I send him away?”
I thought a moment. “Mother, I have made peace with change in my life, though I do not yet understand the full measure of it. I wonder, perhaps I never shall.”
Mother smiled with a nod. She understood.
“I believe I know who this man is. If I look back, I may learn something of why I have come here.”
“As you wish. He is in the parlor.” She gestured to the door.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
October 2, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 11
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
The British assault faces ferocious defense. Losses are heavy. By the light of late afternoon word reaches the cathedral . . .
Women broke into sobs from relief. Mother Marie held up her arms with her sisters. Eyes lifted to the Lady. Mine drawn, followed.
Hail Mary . . .
We filed out of the Cathedral in the blue shadow of early evening. I felt in a daze. What had I seen? What had I heard? What had I witnessed? What did it mean? Where to go? Chateau Le Belle felt surprisingly distant from home. I followed Mother Marie and her sisters. Lost, adrift on some ephemeral tide, propelled by some gentle current. Our Lady of Consolation beckoned. Consolation for us sinners. I was given a room, they called it a cell. I fell asleep listening to echoes. Simple words in my ears.
Days passed. On Chalmette Plain, the British tended their wounded and buried their dead. His Majesty’s mighty army battered, blooded and covered in unspeakable humiliation prepared to withdraw. Our wounded were brought to the convent for treatment. I helped as best I could. I passed evenings in the chapel, considering the meaning of consolation. Mother Marie kindly asked from time to time if she might be of any service. In time, we talked. I told her everything. She seemed not shocked or even surprised the Lady might speak to one such as me. She mentioned a priest I might see should I wish. I listened.
Word arrived the last week in January. A treaty signed at a place called Ghent and since ratified on both sides ended Mr. Madison’s war. General Jackson and his troops marched home to New Orleans in glorious victory.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
The British assault faces ferocious defense. Losses are heavy. By the light of late afternoon word reaches the cathedral . . .
Women broke into sobs from relief. Mother Marie held up her arms with her sisters. Eyes lifted to the Lady. Mine drawn, followed.
Hail Mary . . .
We filed out of the Cathedral in the blue shadow of early evening. I felt in a daze. What had I seen? What had I heard? What had I witnessed? What did it mean? Where to go? Chateau Le Belle felt surprisingly distant from home. I followed Mother Marie and her sisters. Lost, adrift on some ephemeral tide, propelled by some gentle current. Our Lady of Consolation beckoned. Consolation for us sinners. I was given a room, they called it a cell. I fell asleep listening to echoes. Simple words in my ears.
Days passed. On Chalmette Plain, the British tended their wounded and buried their dead. His Majesty’s mighty army battered, blooded and covered in unspeakable humiliation prepared to withdraw. Our wounded were brought to the convent for treatment. I helped as best I could. I passed evenings in the chapel, considering the meaning of consolation. Mother Marie kindly asked from time to time if she might be of any service. In time, we talked. I told her everything. She seemed not shocked or even surprised the Lady might speak to one such as me. She mentioned a priest I might see should I wish. I listened.
Word arrived the last week in January. A treaty signed at a place called Ghent and since ratified on both sides ended Mr. Madison’s war. General Jackson and his troops marched home to New Orleans in glorious victory.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 25, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 10
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
The British launch their assault only to have American sharpshooters cut down the vanguard abandoning scaling ladders to the rampart . . .
Pray for us sinners . . .
Yes, pray for us sinners. I certainly came in for that. Who could pray away a lifetime of sin? The Mother of God, I heard. At that moment I sensed her looking at me. At me? Couldn’t be. Yet I felt it somewhere within. Pray for us sinners.
American gunners poured shot and grape on the British line advancing in force across the broad rampart front. Carnage ensued. British discipline remained staunch in the face of deadly sheets of steel. Holes ripped in red ranks filled by still more fodder for cannon. Officers fell along with their men, the British commanding general among them. The will to advance broke with his mortal wound.
Now and at the hour of our death . . .
The British advance stalled and fell back.
Pray for us sinners, I pondered. Pray for me? It seemed possible. Words came to me unbidden from I know not where. Listen and discern. The Lady? Could she have spoken to me? How? Still, I heard it. Listen and discern. Curious word discern. What might it portend?
Late by the sun-stained windows, there arose in the square a celebratory shout. Muffled in the cavernous Cathedral we strained to hear.
“. . . British . . . withdraw!”
Amen.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
The British launch their assault only to have American sharpshooters cut down the vanguard abandoning scaling ladders to the rampart . . .
Pray for us sinners . . .
Yes, pray for us sinners. I certainly came in for that. Who could pray away a lifetime of sin? The Mother of God, I heard. At that moment I sensed her looking at me. At me? Couldn’t be. Yet I felt it somewhere within. Pray for us sinners.
American gunners poured shot and grape on the British line advancing in force across the broad rampart front. Carnage ensued. British discipline remained staunch in the face of deadly sheets of steel. Holes ripped in red ranks filled by still more fodder for cannon. Officers fell along with their men, the British commanding general among them. The will to advance broke with his mortal wound.
Now and at the hour of our death . . .
The British advance stalled and fell back.
Pray for us sinners, I pondered. Pray for me? It seemed possible. Words came to me unbidden from I know not where. Listen and discern. The Lady? Could she have spoken to me? How? Still, I heard it. Listen and discern. Curious word discern. What might it portend?
Late by the sun-stained windows, there arose in the square a celebratory shout. Muffled in the cavernous Cathedral we strained to hear.
“. . . British . . . withdraw!”
Amen.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 18, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 9
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
Mother Marie invites Margot to join them in prayer. Uncomfortable among nuns she listens . . .
Day broke over Chalmette Plain. Morning fog rolled a thick carpet off river and swamp. Lafitte surveyed the field from the vantage of a parapet at Jackson’s elbow. The rampart bristled with cannon and sharpshooters. A battery of cannon deployed on the right flank at the river’s edge gave field of fire across the canal and down the face of the rampart should the British reach a point of bridging the canal or scaling the wall. Additional batteries held positions across the river on the west bank. These guns flanked the line of British advance.
Fog lifted over regular red-coat columns on left and right flanks with its main force massed in the center. A fourth assault force poised to strike across the river in an effort to turn the American cannon there against their own flank.
Holy Mary, mother of God . . .
Mother and son. She knew love, all mothers do. What was it, Mother Marie said? What I am ‘doesn’t matter to her.’ How could it not? I knew me. It mattered to me. Then it occurred, perhaps that’s all that mattered.
The Mississippi current conspired against the river assault force, bogging down barges carrying troops in shallows and driving still others downstream away from their objective, delaying assault on the guns positioned there. With American guns on the west bank of the river still in play, the British launched the main thrust of their assault. The vanguard, charged with bringing forward scaling ladders to bridge the canal and scale the rampart, came under heavy fire. Backwoods sharpshooters devastated their number, forcing abandonment of the ladders.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
Mother Marie invites Margot to join them in prayer. Uncomfortable among nuns she listens . . .
Day broke over Chalmette Plain. Morning fog rolled a thick carpet off river and swamp. Lafitte surveyed the field from the vantage of a parapet at Jackson’s elbow. The rampart bristled with cannon and sharpshooters. A battery of cannon deployed on the right flank at the river’s edge gave field of fire across the canal and down the face of the rampart should the British reach a point of bridging the canal or scaling the wall. Additional batteries held positions across the river on the west bank. These guns flanked the line of British advance.
Fog lifted over regular red-coat columns on left and right flanks with its main force massed in the center. A fourth assault force poised to strike across the river in an effort to turn the American cannon there against their own flank.
Holy Mary, mother of God . . .
Mother and son. She knew love, all mothers do. What was it, Mother Marie said? What I am ‘doesn’t matter to her.’ How could it not? I knew me. It mattered to me. Then it occurred, perhaps that’s all that mattered.
The Mississippi current conspired against the river assault force, bogging down barges carrying troops in shallows and driving still others downstream away from their objective, delaying assault on the guns positioned there. With American guns on the west bank of the river still in play, the British launched the main thrust of their assault. The vanguard, charged with bringing forward scaling ladders to bridge the canal and scale the rampart, came under heavy fire. Backwoods sharpshooters devastated their number, forcing abandonment of the ladders.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 4, 2021
Lady of New Orleans episode 8
Last week in Lady of New Orleans
In prayer, the guns of war seem less threatening. Simple words touch Madam Margot She listens, lulled to sleep . . .
I came awake to a light touch in the gray light of predawn. Kind eyes looked on me, hooded.
“Come, join us,” she said.
“You can’t mean me.”
“But I do.”
“Do you know who I am? Do you know what I am?”
“It doesn’t matter to her. Come.”
She held out a hand. Guns rumbled in my ears; war broken out in my heart. Torn, I took her hand. “Who are you?”
“Mother Marie.”
I followed. A slight chill prickled the flesh on my arms as she marched me up the broad aisle to the foot of a towering altar overshadowed by some larger presence. Some among the ladies present undoubtedly took umbrage at my intrusion. Mother Marie deposited me in the front pew among her sisters and resumed her prayers.
I sat surrounded by nuns, sheltered from the disdain of polite society. A thistle among lilies, no other way to describe it. At some point in the ebb and flow of emotions battling within my breast, I stopped berating myself over what I was doing there. Seated so close, my eyes were drawn to the Lady. A queen by her crown. I listened.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
In prayer, the guns of war seem less threatening. Simple words touch Madam Margot She listens, lulled to sleep . . .
I came awake to a light touch in the gray light of predawn. Kind eyes looked on me, hooded.
“Come, join us,” she said.
“You can’t mean me.”
“But I do.”
“Do you know who I am? Do you know what I am?”
“It doesn’t matter to her. Come.”
She held out a hand. Guns rumbled in my ears; war broken out in my heart. Torn, I took her hand. “Who are you?”
“Mother Marie.”
I followed. A slight chill prickled the flesh on my arms as she marched me up the broad aisle to the foot of a towering altar overshadowed by some larger presence. Some among the ladies present undoubtedly took umbrage at my intrusion. Mother Marie deposited me in the front pew among her sisters and resumed her prayers.
I sat surrounded by nuns, sheltered from the disdain of polite society. A thistle among lilies, no other way to describe it. At some point in the ebb and flow of emotions battling within my breast, I stopped berating myself over what I was doing there. Seated so close, my eyes were drawn to the Lady. A queen by her crown. I listened.
Next Week: Lady of New Orleans continued, www.amazon.com Search Books: The Spoilt Quilt.
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Ride easy,
Paul
